Snow Day, Game Day
by Tragic Alchemy
Summary: School's been snowed out, so Bella's got a day to herself. Wool socks, Disney movies, and... vampire video gamers?


Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Technically I own a copy of the book that I cherish, but that's all it is. A copy. Sad, right?

Snow Day, Game Day

A Twilight Oneshot

I awoke to a bright light that filled my room, but I quickly realized that it wasn't the sun. I had my suspicions, but I crawled out of bed and slumped over to my window. I was blinded as I looked out, seeing nothing but piles of white that blanketed the ground. Snow? Really? But why? I groaned to myself as my eyes adjusted to the brightness. It was then that I zeroed in on my driveway. Much to my confusion, Charlie's cruiser was there, but my truck was missing. I was confused.

I pulled my quilt off of my bed and wrapped it around me, and I tiptoed down the stairs. It was very quiet in the small house, and the sounds of my awkward footfalls would have been aggravating, so I continued my attempts at being stealthy. I failed when my foot caught my quilt when I was on the last step. I fell forward with a "thunk." Luckily, though, my aged quilt was thick enough to break my fall.

I entered the kitchen to find a large yellow notepad on the counter. I glanced down at it, examining Charlie's rough scrawl.

_Bella, Too much snow for one night. School's been cancelled. I took your truck to work because it was safer. Keep warm and have a relaxing day. Be back late._

No school? A relaxing day? I surprised myself at how down I felt about not going to school. I guess it was because I'd grown to realize that my mind constantly needed a distraction. It must have also been because school meant being with Edward all day. Hmm, I wondered what Edward was up to for the day.

I shrugged. A day at home by myself might not have been that bad of idea at all. I had no homework, and Renee had recently sent a boxful of things that belonged to me. I went to my closet and pulled the box out from its resting spot. I peeled the tape off and opened the flaps. CDs, cassette tapes, books, and movies. There were a couple t-shirts in there as well. I decided it would be a good day to catch up on old movies, so I scanned the titles. I stopped when I came to my Disney collection. A soft smile crept across my face. The Lion King? Nah, I wasn't up for watching Mufasa die again. Snow White? Possibly. After all, the title reminded me why I was stuck at home. Toy Story? Cinderella? Sleeping Beauty? No. No. No again. Aladdin showed promise, but I realized that I hadn't watched Beauty and the Beast since I was in the first grade. I decided it would be refreshing.

I quickly changed out of my pajamas, replacing the old sweats and oversized t-shirt for a comfy pajama set Renee bought for me last Christmas. It was cute, but not too girly. The bottoms had navy blue, lime green, and white vertical stripes while the top was a solid navy blue. I completed the ensemble with a pair of wool socks, and I pulled my messy hair back into a ponytail.

I grabbed my quilt again with the movie in my other hand, and went to lounge on the couch. It wasn't long after the movie started that I started to feel a strong sense of irony. Oh, how I hated irony. I heard people say that irony was God's sense of humor, but I failed to see what was so funny. But I empathized with Belle. So much that it was almost painful. She was in love with a so-called "beast." Something that people regarded as a monster and ran away from in fear. I sighed and shook my head.

"What's wrong with us, Belle?" I asked the television. I let a chuckle slip from my lips as I realized the similarity of our names.

"Yep, Belle's officially my newest hero," I declared to the empty room.

I was about halfway through the movie when a series of knocks could be heard from the front door. I shuffled to the door, still trying to pay attention to the movie, but I feared for my life when I focused on the scene just outside my front door.

There they were… all five of them were covered in pricey winter gear, and they carried duffel bags with them, snow dripping from their hair.

"It's… not a dead body, is it?" I asked, carefully eyeing the black bag Edward had in hand. He laughed and freed one of his hands to brush my cheek. His cold fingers sent a chill down my spine, and I shivered.

"Let's get this stuff inside and close the door before she freezes to death," Alice said, pushing past everyone else.

As soon as they were in, they removed their coats with smooth movements, and made their way to the living room where Beauty and the Beast still played and my quilt was thrown over the couch.

"Um…" I tried to say something or ask something, but Alice and Rosalie were already sitting on the couch, chatting at a rate I couldn't comprehend, and Jasper and Emmett were at the TV with the duffel bags.

Edward caught my arm and spun me around, embracing me in a hug. I was confused, but I didn't let that take away from his hold on me. Gosh, he smelled good. He finally released me, taking me by the hand and leading me to the side of the couch where the girls sat.

"What's going on?" I managed. That's when I saw what was in the duffel bags. Dumped out onto the floor were game systems, black wires, plastic controllers, and a plethora of games. One other duffel bag was still full, but I swung around to Edward.

"This isn't an arcade," I told him.

"Now it is!" I heard Emmett call from behind me. I shot an angry glare in his direction and saw him and Jasper plugging wires into the back of the television set.

"Bella?" Edward asked.

"What?"

"It was between an adventurous snow day out, or an entertaining game day in," he said calmly. "And I know you don't like the cold."

"But you weren't invited," I said coldly, but I quickly regretted it. Luckily, Edward and the rest just brushed it off.

"Did you really think you would have fun watching movies by yourself all day?" Alice asked sweetly.

"As a matter of fact, I did."

They all laughed, but I failed to see the humor. I just pouted.

"C'mon, it'll be fun," Edward assured. Sure. That's always what he said when I didn't want to play along with him. I locked eyes with him. Bad idea. I could feel my resistance melting. It was like he had laser vision or something.

"Okay," I sighed in defeat. Jasper and Emmett knocked fists, Alice giggled in excitement, and Rosalie offered a slight smile. I cocked my head to one side when I looked at her.

"Even _you're_ into video games?" I asked her.

"Sure," she said with a nod. I could hear the guys groan. My guess was that she wasn't very good and she slowed them down.

"I must say, though," she began again. "We all have our personal preferences."

"Like what?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You'll see," she promised with a mischievous grin.

"Alright, Alice," Jasper interrupted. "You're up!"

I turned to see floor mats with arrows on them spread before the TV. Alice leaped from the couch and stood on one of them.

"Who will be my first victim?" she asked. Emmett and Jasper turned away.

"I'll do it," Rosalie volunteered.

"Step right up!" Alice chimed. Rosalie took her place on the second mat. I stared at them blankly.

"Dance Dance Revolution," Edward whispered to me. "This is what Rosalie was saying about preferences. Alice is the master at DDR."

"Okay… what about you?" I asked a little more interested.

"I'm okay at DDR, but Guitar Hero's my game."

"And the others?" I pressed.

"Emmett's a Super Smash Brothers expert, and you don't want to face Jasper on Mortal Kombat."

"Rosalie?"

He groaned the same groan I heard from Jasper and Emmett.

"Let's just say she likes to play Halo," he said lightly. I took that as confirmation that she just got in the way of the others. I couldn't blame her, though. I wasn't much of a gamer myself. The most I'd ever done was play through a game of Pac-Man at the movie theater.

That's when Alice and Rosalie began to face off. It was insane. I'd never seen arrows appear so quickly on the screen. Sure enough, Alice got through every song on expert mode without missing a single step and conquering all challengers. The most entertaining battle was between Alice and Emmett, Emmett throwing out a new series of curses every other step. I laughed so hard that my side went numb.

Guitar Hero was amazing. Everyone was great, but Edward was incredible. I shook my head at him in disbelief. With how easy it was for him, I was surprised he even found it fun. Emmett was an entertaining sight through that one as well. Each strum of the middle plastic piece signaled a new curse word.

"Crap, dang, damn," he muttered in time with the song, followed by more intense language. It was a good thing Charlie wasn't at home.

Super Smash Brothers and Mortal Kombat was just as entertaining, Emmett beating everyone in his path at Super Smash Brothers, and Jasper still reigning as the Mortal Kombat champion.

"Now it's time to play my game," Rosalie proclaimed. All three guys groaned once again. Reluctantly, Jasper hooked up another game system and popped in a copy of Halo.

"So, who's going to play with me?" Rosalie asked as she held up additional controllers. No one moved, and I suddenly felt sorry for her. She was so bad, no one was willing to play with her. I briefly debated volunteering. I hadn't played any of the other games because I knew I didn't have a chance. But I still couldn't help feeling for her.

"I'll do it," I piped up, reaching for a controller. They all stared at me with wide eyes.

"Are you serious?" Alice asked. I simply nodded.

"No, she's not serious," Edward answered aloud for me, snatching the controller out of my hand. I stared up at him in surprise.

"I'll play in her stead," he sighed.

Alice threw the other two controllers at Jasper and Emmett.

"C'mon, boys! It's time to be men!" she told them. They hesitated before retrieving the controllers. I secretly hoped they would take it easy on Rosalie.

They obviously recognized the look of desperation on my face because as soon as the game began, they began dropping like flies. Rosalie hunted them down one right after the other. It wasn't until the boys were yelling at her in anger that I realized the _real_ reason they didn't want to play with her to begin with. They didn't want to avoid her because she was bad. They wanted to avoid her because she was _awesome_!

I couldn't help from laughing as the game continued. Rosalie killed. The guys cursed. Every time Rosalie shot down Edward, I laughed at him mockingly. I couldn't help myself.

"You're enjoying this way too much," he told me as he waited for his character to respawn. I laughed again in response.

By the time everyone was tired of Rosalie's wrath, they all turned to me. I froze.

"What?" I asked nervously.

"We've got a game for you, too!" Alice announced as Emmett hooked up a different system.

"No," I said flatly.

"Yes," Alice protested.

"Why?"

"Because we're all evenly matched in this game," she insisted.

I sighed. Might as well, right? What was the point of a game day if I didn't play anything? Edward handed me a controller.

"What game is it?" I asked unenthusiastically. Emmett held up a copy of Mario Kart.

"Okay, let's go. Try to beat _this_," I said. I was bluffing.

When the races began, I was pleasantly surprised. Alice was right. We were all evenly matched. You could only go so fast, and strategy was based on what you just so happened to pick up in those rainbow block things. I beat Emmett a couple of times. I even beat Alice once. They were right. By the end of the day, I was having fun.


End file.
